Stable-mate Qewy is much shorter in the betting, but the fact that Richard Johnson’s mount missed Cheltenham means he will be fresh for this contest.

His effort first time out this season at HQ on decent ground was very taking, and followed that up at Kempton in November, before finding the soft ground not to his liking at the Open meeting.

With a break the five-year-old can repeat some of the form of last season that saw him second in the Adonis Juvenile Hurdle last season, and a close fourth having pulled hard in the Grade 1 Juvenile contest here 12 months ago.

He can use his excellent turn of foot to at least bag a place, and could even take top-spot in a relatively open contest.

It’s so often all or nothing for Alan King’s horse, but on his best he could spoil the return to chasing for favourite Saphir Du Rheu.

He beat Southfield Theatre at Newbury earlier this season, so is capable of competing with the best of them, but then disappointed when unseating in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and failing to cope with the heavy ground at Haydock in January.

He marked a return after two months off with a very good victory at Exeter. After pulling hard in the early stages, it was impressive how much he had left to pull clear on the bridle to put the race to bed.

Although that contest came after Cheltenham, it was an easy victory, so will be relatively fresh and can go well at a big price.

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Ladbrokes News’ equine expert, Ben likes nothing more than studying the form to pick out a winner or two for our readers. A Journalism and Media Studies graduate from the University of Winchester, Ben has previously written for a number of football and racing blogs and websites, as well as contributing to the sports pages of his home-town newspaper.

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